College football season is already upon
us, but what many sports fans often fail to realize is that college
basketball is just around the corner. With 10 more weeks of University
of Cincinnati football scheduled to overlap the school’s November
basketball exhibition games, it’s safe to say that this fall is going to
involve watching many, many athletic competitions. (And don’t even
mention to your life partner how important Sunday, Monday and the
occasional Thursday NFL games are to your life.)

Today we’re here to debate which of UC’s
major teams is going to have a cooler season — football vs. basketball.
Arguing in favor of the currently 1-1 football squad is Danny Cross, who
has never played organized football in his life. The basketball
Bearcats will be represented by Isaac Thorn, who thinks he’s real good
at shooting 3’s.

Ready? Go.

Cross: OK,
so last week’s game against Tennessee didn’t go as well as the ‘Cats
might have hoped, but a road loss against an SEC team is like getting
slammed by your older brother — you try to land a quick kick in the
groin early, knowing that you’re likely to pay for it later either way.
The Bearcats were overmatched on the road against a veteran team. Fine,
that happened.

But looking ahead to the team’s remaining
non-conference games and the schools favored to win the Big East leaves
reason for optimism. First, the two Big East teams currently ranked in
the Top 25 are hardly unbeatable: West Virginia checks in a No. 18,
while South Florida sits at No. 20 after a road win against Notre Dame,
which is 0-2. The Big East, as in most years, could be won by any of
five schools. And when it comes to outlasting a collection of
above-average-but-not-great other teams, what’s the best attribute for a
college football team to have? Offense!

You can scoff at the notion of UC’s young
defense being able to stop the playmakers of West Virginia and Pitt.
But do you remember Isaiah Pead going 65 yards for a touchdown on UC’s
first possession against Tennessee? Such runs will undoubtedly occur
in-conference. In addition to returning last year’s leading Big East
rusher in Pead, the Bearcats have senior quarterback Zach Collaros, who
led the conference in passing last year.

Senior receiver D.J. Woods and
junior college transfer Kenbrell Thompkins are really good at catching
the ball and running really fast with it.

It can’t be denied that the Bearcats’
defense against Tennessee left much to be desired. But an inexperienced
team playing its second game of the year against some giant dudes from
down South deserves a certain level of forgiveness — at least until
Sept. 17 when the team hosts Akron and Sept. 22 when it welcomes NC
State to Nippert Stadium. The reasons for optimism include seniors J.K.
Schaffer (linebacker) and Derek Wolfe (defensive lineman) and junior
linebacker Maalik Bomar. There’s talent on that side of the ball, too.

Nobody here is predicting an 11-1 season
for the Bearcats, but this team will finish somewhere closer such
(previously achieved) heights than last year’s 4-8 finish. And until the
‘Cats have lost two conference games there will still be reason to
enjoy the program’s quest for a third Big East championship in four
years.

Thorn:
During the final seconds of UC’s loss to eventual champion UConn in last
year’s NCAA Tournament, Yancy Gates sat on the bench and cried. The
junior forward believed that if he had played better the Bearcats could
have advanced to the Sweet Sixteen and been within four games of winning
the tournament. If Gates, one of the Big East’s most notable returning
players this season, exhibits such passion this season it will be a
major step for him as a player and for the UC program as a whole.

This argument for the promise of this
year’s UC basketball season isn’t meant as a knock on the football team,
but when the Bearcats get trounced by teams from other, far superior
athletic conferences few in the football stadium are surprised. It’s
hard to not see a blowout coming once players from the opposing team
come out of the tunnel and it is immediately apparent how much bigger,
stronger and faster they are. After Saturday’s loss to the Volunteers,
UC is now 0-20-1 all-time on the road against the SEC.

What makes the upcoming season so
exciting for UC basketball fans is picking up from where last season
ended. Sophomore Sean Kilpatrick and junior Cashmere Wright, at shooting
guard and point guard, respectively, showed immense promise last season
and and figure to represent one of the Big East’s best backcourt
tandems this year. While Gates and coach Mick Cronin’s relationship has
had its rocky moments, the two now appear to be on the same page. If
Gates can maintain his focus and energy throughout this year, he will be
a dominant player.

The Bearcats have a strong recruiting
class joining the team this season, another benefit of the stability
Mick Cronin has returned to the program. Incoming forwards Shaquille
Thomas and Cheikh Mbodj could factor into the mix for playing time, to
spell Gates and fellow senior Dion Dixon, who will provide leadership
and hopefully more vicious slam dunks come tourney time.

Our founding fathers fought both cowboy
and alien to ensure their progeny would be able to drink beer and yell a
lot while watching college sports. While UC’s football team has
performed well recently, it still seems many miles away from being able
to win against the sport’s best squads.

The basketball team will have its work
cut out in the Big East, but with a straight face one can say that it
will have enough talent to beat any team in the country on any given
night.

John Kasich’s 2011 budget reduced higher education funding by $440 million. Help UC out by going to these games!